Island of the Blue Dolphins

Island of the Blue Dolphins is the remarkable story of a strange and beautiful Indian girl who lives a serene and courageous life as the solitary survivor on an island off the California coast. Left behind when the rest of her tribe fled, she waits, year after year, for a ship to come for her. She fights for her very survival, building a shelter, hunting for food, and making weapons to stave off her enemies, the wild dogs who took her brother.

Caddie Woodlawn

No one would accuse 11-year-old Caddie Woodlawn of being dainty and ladylike. In spite of her mother’s best efforts, Caddie is as wild as the wind, playing freely and rambunctiously with her two brothers in the Wisconsin backwoods. There are rafts to build and trees to climb and pranks to play. Caddie especially likes to watch her friend Indian John build birchbark canoes at the river. Every day seems wide with possibility - as wide as the frontier. But living on the edge of civilization has its risks, too....

Miracles on Maple Hill

A father's wounded heart. A mother's patient love. An eager boy, an impetuous girl, and, above all, the healing power of nature. These are the classic ingredients that fill Virginia Sorensen's Newbery Award-winning novel with a tender power and lift it to classic status.

Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Ortega possesses all the treasures a young girl in Aguascalientes, Mexico could want. But a sudden tragedy shatters that dream, forcing Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. There they confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. Pam Munoz Ryan eloquently portrays the Mexican workers' plight in this abundant and passionate novel.

The Perilous Road

Chris Brabson hates the Union troops. Yankee riders in the Tennessee mountains have stolen his family's newly harvested crops and their only horse. In spite of this, Chris' brother joins the Union army, and his parents refuse to take either side. But Chris has no doubts, he would fight for the Confederacy. The Perilous Road, a Newbery Honor book, powerfully illustrates the senseless waste of war and the true meaning of courage and tolerance.

The Sign of the Beaver

At just 12 years old, Matt must face serious challenges in the Maine wilderness while awaiting his father's return to their cabin. When he is saved from a terrifying bee swarm attack by an Indian chief and his grandson Attean, Matt gains a valuable friend in the young Indian boy.

Riders of the Pony Express

Prior to the Civil War, the fastest mail between the West Coast and the East took almost thirty days by stagecoach along a southern route through Texas. Some Californians feared their state would not remain in the Union, separated so far from the free states. Then businessman William Russell invested in a way to deliver mail between San Francisco and the farthest western railroad, in Saint Joseph, Missouri - across two thousand miles of mountains, deserts, and plains - guaranteed in ten days or less.

Johnny Tremain

Johnny, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught with Otis, Hancock, and John and Samuel Adams in the exciting operations and subterfuges leading up to the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington. As Johnny is forced into the role of a full-grown man in the face of his new country's independence, he finds that his relations with those he loves changes for the better as well.

Gone-Away Lake

Eleven year-old Portia and her younger brother, Foster, spend a summer with their cousin, Julian, engaged in more than the usual summer pastimes of sun, fun and games. The children discover a fascinating abandoned summer resort, consisting of deserted crumbling Victorian summer homes surrounding a vanished lake, which is now a swamp. But, best of all, they discover and befriend an elderly eccentric brother and sister who tell them the story of Gone-Away Lake.

Humbug Mountain

Welcome to Humbug Mountain. Little did Wiley, the son of a traveling newspaperman, imagine that the search for his grandfather would lead him into the hands of those nasty villains of the West - Shagnasty John and the Fool Killer. Using their newspaper, The Humbug Mountain Hoorah, Wiley and his sister and mother go about outwitting the outlaws in their scheme to ambush Grandfather's new boat and its cargo of gold.

The Winged Watchman

This acclaimed story of World War II is rich in suspense, characterization, plot, and spiritual truth. Every element of occupied Holland is united in a story of courage and hope: a hidden Jewish child, an underdiver, a downed RAF pilot, an imaginative, daring underground hero, and the small things of family life which surprisingly carry on in the midst of oppression.

Zia

For the millions of children around the world who loved The Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell continues the breathtaking story of Karana, a Native American woman stranded on an island off the coast of California. O'Dell mixes stirring drama with historical insights into 18th-century California Mission life to create an unforgettable sequel to a modern classic of children's literature.

Because of Winn-Dixie

When 10-year-old India Opal Buloni moves to Naomi, Florida, with her preacher father, she doesn't know what to expect. She is lonely at first, that is until she meets Winn-Dixie, a stray dog who helps her make some unusual friends. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal begins to let go of some of her sadness and finds she has a whole lot to be thankful for.

All-of-a-Kind Family

It's the turn of the 20th century in New York's Lower East Side and a sense of adventure and excitement abounds for five young sisters. Follow along on their adventures and experience their holiday fun.

The Hundred Dresses

Wanda Petronski is different from all the other girls in Room 13. Every day she wears the same faded blue dress to school, and every day she tells about her hundred dresses at home. Her classmates joke about her imaginary clothes - until they learn the wonderful secret of the dresses.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean islands she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely.

Ember Falls: The Green Ember Series, Book 2

The stage is set. It's war. Morbin Blackhawk, slaver and tyrant, threatens to destroy the rabbit resistance forever. Heather and Picket are two young rabbits improbably thrust into pivotal roles. The fragile alliance forged around the young heir seems certain to fail. Can Heather and Picket help rescue the cause from a certain, sudden defeat?

The Indian in the Cupboard

It all started with a birthday present that Omri didn't want: a small plastic Indian that was no use to him at all. But an old wooden cupboard and a special key brought his unusual toy to life, and strange and wonderful things began to happen.

Sing Down the Moon

The Spanish slavers were an ever-present threat to the Navajo way of life. One lovely spring day, 14-year-old Bright Morning and her friend Running Bird took their sheep to pasture. Bright Morning was happy as she gazed across the beautiful valley that was the home of her tribe. She turned when Black Dog barked, and it was then that she saw the Spanish slavers riding straight toward her.

Sarah, Plain and Tall

"I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall." A heartwarming story about two children, Anna and Caleb, whose lives are changed forever when their widowed papa advertises for a mail-order bride. Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton from Maine answers the ad and agrees to come for a month. Sarah brings gifts from the sea, a cat named Seal, and singing and laughter to the quiet house. But will she like it enough to stay? Anna and Caleb wait and wonder -- and hope. Performed by Glenn Close

Hatchet

Newbery Award-winner Gary Paulsen's best-known book comes to audio in this breathless, heart-gripping drama about a boy pitted against the wilderness with only a hatchet and a will to live. On his way to visit his recently divorced father in the Canadian mountains, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is the only survivor when the single-engine plane crashes. His body battered, his clothes in shreds, Brian must now stay alive in the boundless Canadian wilderness.

Teacher / music lover / book lover says:"Survival Story for Grades 5 or 6 through 8."

Audible Editor Reviews

Aided skillfully by a full cast, narrator Willard E. Lape, Jr.'s weather-beaten voice gives this rollicking tale a real sense of adventure. One of the most beloved stories by Newbery Medalist Sid Fleischman, this story follows a 12-year-old boy named Jack who heads to California with his butler, Praiseworthy. The pair encounters villains, eccentrics, and friends alike as they travel to take part in the Gold Rush. The cast gives the characters larger-than-life voices, and their delight in Jack and Praiseworthy's exploits is infectious. Listeners will find themselves either holding their breath or unexpectedly bursting in laughter by the story's events.

Publisher's Summary

One of Newbery Medalist Sid Fleischman's most beloved books, this rip-snortin' saga of a young man and his butler bound for California during the great Gold Rush was just made to be read by a full cast. Our collection of coots, codgers, geezers, and outlaws will have you laughing out loud...when you're not holding your breath in suspense!

I added this book to my cart as part of a series of books I remember reading in gradeschool, and which I remembered more about the emotional reaction I had to the book then the content. I am pleased to report that at 45 years old, the story was delightful as I remember, and the cast was marvelous, enlivening the book with colorful characters whose apparent age and gender matched the protagonists and made the story much easier to follow and more enjoyable to listen to. I look forward to sharing it with my nephew in a few years.

If you could sum up By The Great Horn Spoon! in three words, what would they be?

California History fun!

What did you like best about this story?

My students loved following along in their book's while listening to this story. I was able to cover the content on do the fun activities without talking 4 weeks to read it in class. We were running out of time at the end of the year and it worked out great.

I've heard many parents and kids complain that this book is boring, but none of them have listened to this acted out version with a full cast. My 5 children and I listened to this book 4 years ago, and haven't stopped talking about it since. We just finished it for a second time so that my younger kids could experience it, and my 2 teenagers, remembering it from last time, begged to listen along again. It's the best way to learn about the gold rush culture, but most of all, it's fun! My kids couldn't wait to get in the car and turn it on again.

My boys listened to this story for school but loved it. They even listened to it a second time while traveling. The characters do a fantastic job and having more than one makes it so much fun to listen to. Your kids won't even realize they are learning about history!

I have read "By the Great Horn Spoon" to my class for many years, but this is the first time I have used the audio book. What a difference it has made. The students were so inthralled! I recommend this to any fourth grade teacher who used "By the Great Horn Spoon" in their curriculum!

This reminded me of an American rendering of England's Bertie and Wooster. Sid Fleischman delivers a fast paced story while the folks at Full Cast Audio once again prove their magic touch. A great story for the whole family.

heavy handed, self indulgent acting makes this highly entertaining book an impossible to listen to "performance". Most painful is the condescending narrator. Hurt my head to listen to him. I wish I could get my money back. I know there's a straight-forward audio-book version of this. I wish audible had that. I sincerely hope, for everybody's sake, the people who put this "performance" together NEVER do it again.

My dad read this book to me when I was little. I love listening to it with my kids now. The narration was great, there were multiple voices for characters. This is a fun story about a boy and his butler going to the gold fields, and their many adventures.

Fantastic story of a young boy and a butlers travel to find great wealth in the gold mines of California. Very funny in places and no matter what the butler always wins the day. He is a fantastic character and so believable.

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